


What More Could A Hermit Ask For?

by Kyon813



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Dessert & Sweets, Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Loving Family Relationships are That Good Shit, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:34:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29453115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyon813/pseuds/Kyon813
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, and our resident hacker has a full evening of nothing ahead of her. Just the way she likes it.Surely no one has a surprise waiting for her, right?
Kudos: 17





	What More Could A Hermit Ask For?

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I actually managed to get a holiday piece done _on_ the holiday in question. Who would've thought?
> 
> Just a little bit of fluff I whipped up for today. Nothing special, but sometimes that's just what you need.
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

If there was ever a downside to having friends, it was knowing you were the only one in your group without plans.

Shocking no one, Futaba could hardly care about Valentine's Day. Leaving the house was still a high-level quest for her, and that was only when the drops were some new gear for her rig, or a new game she didn't want to torrent. Going out just so some guy could get all mushy over you sounded as appealing as ducking into the scrub-tier rankings when you were already at Grandmaster level. In short, it was boring, and not worth the effort, or the anxiety.

So naturally, her friends were all infected with that particular bug this year: Ren and Makoto were getting “re-acquainted” at Leblanc (after finally getting him back from prison, she didn't blame them for it, but the thought of them acting all kissy over each other made her gag), Ryuji finally power-leveled his charisma or guts enough to ask Ann out (she almost wanted to tag along and see if he messed that up), and Morgana was spending the night with Haru, “helping” her make treats (the only plan she approved of; it meant something for her, after all). With that, all her options for _someone_ to hang out with were cut off.

Well, maybe not. There was always...Inari...

Just thinking about that made Futaba relish her own evening even more: testing out some new software betas she was developing, a raid battle in the background (multispecing had made her newest character pretty OP, so it wouldn't need much babying outside of keeping her buffs active), plenty of fuel, no pretentious weirdo talking her to death about “foreshortening” or “photo-realism”, or just assaulting her with another barrage of puns...

After all the strides she'd made since last summer, Futaba still liked to keep her nights simple. What more did she really need?

_Knock-knock-knock!_

“Futaba?”

One thing was knocking on her door: dinner.

“I'll be right down!” She called over her shoulder, pulling off her headphones, saving her progress, and going AFK.

“Actually,” Sojiro answered, muffled by the door, “can I come in?”

Futaba paused. She and Sojiro talked often, but once she was in her room he usually gave her space, unless it was something important. What could it be?

“Uh, sure.” She climbed out of her chair, crossed her for-once clean floor, and opened the lock. Her father's face poked into the crack.

“Hey.” Sojiro walked in. Something was already off with him: he looked...stressed? Upset? Nervous? That couldn't be right. Sojiro was never nervous, just kinda...sober when things got serious. But “sober” didn't describe the tightness of his face. It mustn't be that serious then...

...maybe it was about whatever was behind his back.

“What'cha got?” Futaba said; she tried to peek behind him. From the glimpse she caught, he held a box.

“Oh, you'll see...”

Futaba pouted. She hated when did this.

“Well, come on!” She juked from side to side to see the box again. Sojiro kept it firmly out of sight. “I wanna seeeeee!”

“Calm down, calm down!” Sojiro laughed. “Take a seat and I'll show you.”

The girl relented. Plopping herself on the bed, she folded her legs and looked up expectantly, eager, curious eyes magnified by her glasses.

“Close your eyes.”

Reluctantly, Futaba closed them. These kinds of games before getting something annoyed her. She just wanted to see what he had...

“Alright. Open 'em.”

She opened her eyes. Like she'd suspected, a flat box was in Sojiro's hands, a thick red ribbon tying it shut. The tension in his face was gone; instead, he wore a wide smile.

Futaba took the box. “What's in it?”

“Open it,” Sojiro said. “Go on.”

Futaba had a good guess what lay inside already. Still, she slowly untied the ribbon, shooting curious glances up at her father. Once removed, carefully, cautiously, she lifted the lid...

Her suspicions were confirmed: a spread of tiny chocolates greeted her inside the box, tiny stars and hearts laid in neat rows, resting in little paper cups. They smelled rich and slightly savory. She was already tempted to taste one.

“Here.” Sojiro plucked a star from the bunch and sat down next to her. “Say 'ahh'...” He held out the candy in his fingertips.

Futaba stared back blankly. He wasn't charming her _that_ easily. She leaned in, opened her mouth, and...

_Chomp!_

“Gah!”

Sojiro jerked his hand away from her jaws, flailing his nipped fingers. He glared at his daughter, who smugly beamed at him as she chewed.

“Should've seen _that_ coming...” Sojiro griped. “So, how are they?”

“Can't talk. Eating,” Futaba said, and popped a heart into her mouth. It was slightly lighter than the star, and the flavor was sweeter and richer.

“Heh. I'll take that as a compliment.” He sat back on the bed. “I'm not one for sweets, but I thought I did pretty well...”

Futaba paused, the next chocolate halfway to her mouth. “ _You_ made these?”

“Sure did. Most stores were sold out by the time I went looking, and doing it myself was cheaper anyway.” Sojiro playfully ruffled her hair. “Happy Valentine's Day, kid.”

Chomping down on another treat, Futaba snorted. “So that marketing junk got to you too.”

“Nope. Not at all.”

Her chews slowed down. “But you always said Valentine's Day was a big marketing scam. They use all that fluffy love stuff to sell gifts to couples.”

“They sure do,” Sojiro answered wisely, “and I'm only grateful for it 'cause of the business that comes with.” He chuckled. “But...” his eyes turned softer, and the corner of his mouth pulled up, “at the heart of it, there's nothing wrong with taking a day to celebrate the people special to us.

“Special...?”

“Take the kid and Makoto, for example. They've been apart for almost two months, and we all worked our tails off to get him back. Don't you think she's grateful she can have a day with him, and no one can get in the way?”

Chocolate on her lips, Futaba thought: Ren's arrest was a terrible blow, he was “special” to all of them, but it never struck her before how much it meant to Makoto to set him free. Futaba might have lost her “key item”, but Makoto lost...something much more.

“Isn't it just...couples, though?” She said slowly. “Most people only see it like that...”

“Since when? And since when did you start caring about what other think?” Sojiro sat up, and met Futaba's eyes. “The whole world could say today's only for couples, and I'd still tell them to get lost. I've got someone who means more to me than almost anyone else, and...damnit, I wanted to do something for her.” They watched each other silently; Sojiro's calm look threatened to crack, but he held strong. “You're special to me, Futaba. You deserve anything I can give you, and you always will.”

Despite the heavy fans blowing, and the air conditioner keeping her rig cool, Futaba suddenly started burning. At the same time, she shuddered like she was wracked with heavy chills. She shoveled down another star, and looked up and away from her father. She felt the heavy beads forming around her eyes.

“You...uhm, you, mean...special...” She cleared her throat. “You're special to me too...Dad.” Trying to pass off a sob as a cough, she turned back to the box. “These are...great. Thanks...”

“Glad you like them.” Sojiro smiled knowingly. “Notice something about the flavor?”

Letting the taste of the last few candies settle on her tongue, Futaba did notice a real depth to it, more than just sweet or “chocolatey”, and very familiar.

“If you say you made them with _love..._ ” She said sternly.

Sojiro barked with laughter. “Ha! _God_ no. That's espresso powder. You add a little bit to chocolate, it tastes even better, and not a thing like coffee.”

“Hmm,” Futaba hummed, swallowed. “You put a lot into these...” Slowly, she hung her head. “And I...didn't get you anything,” she admitted guiltily.

“Ah, don't worry about it,” Sojiro replied. “With everything you've done, I'll be happy with nothing for a long time.”

“Huh? Like what?”

“Getting out of your room?” He asked. “Making friends? Going out on your own? Not to mention tricking a professional detective, getting me out of trouble, _and_ helping to save Japan? Any of those is worth more than a card and a new mug.”

“Well,” Futaba trailed off. Sojiro was right, but... “Ren...and the others, they helped with all those.”

“And you still listened to them. They gave you a hand, but you took those steps yourself. For that,” he put an arm over Futaba's shoulder, “I'm proud of you. _Very_ proud.”

That warmth blazed up again. This time, Futaba didn't look away. She looked up at Sojiro, wiry beard below a peaceful, affectionate face, and smiled back. Quietly, she put both arms around him, and pulled tight. Sojiro rested his head on her's, gently rubbing her shoulder as he drew her closer into the hug. When they finally parted, they still sat a little closer than before.

“Did you make any for Ren?” Futaba asked and reached for another heart.

“Nah,” Sojiro answered, “he's got plenty coming to him tonight. Besides, he give him too much, he'll start getting swell-headed.”

“Mmhmm,” Futaba said through another full mouth. “Can't let our Godslayer get too full of himself. Ryuji's bad enough...”

Sojiro whistled. “You told me a thousand times, and I still can't believe it,” he said softly. “Kid actually _killed_ a _god..._ ”

While he dwelled on the impossible, Futaba reached for another candy...

The lid dropped over the top, and the box was yanked off her lap.

“Hey!”

“That's enough for now,” Sojiro said, looking uncharacteristically mischievous.

“But that's a _gift!_ ” Futaba whined. “You can't take back a gift! It's not fair!”

“That's a fair point,” Sojiro mused, eyeing the box in his hand. “What about this: you get the rest right now, and you can eat as much as you want...” He held it out, and Futaba stuck out her hand to grab it.

“ _If,_ ” he pulled it back, to Futaba's tiny fury, “you join me for dinner. Nothing fancy, just a quick stir-fry for both of us.”

Suddenly, Futaba noticed the smell slowly drifting through the open door. As good as the chocolates smelled, this was even better.

“It's a hard bargain,” Sojiro carried on, smirking broadly “but what do you say?”

Futaba glanced around her room. She looked at Sojiro, turned to the box, her computer, back to Sojiro, box, computer, Sojiro, box, computer...

“Fine!” She roared. “Quest Accepted!” Passing Sojiro at the door, she stomped down the hall to the stairs. Outwardly, she looked intent and furious, and she was.

Inside, she was just as happy as before. After all, she was about to have a great meal, and spend the evening with a guy who fawned over her, and all that other mushy love stuff.

What more could she ask for on Valentine's Day?


End file.
